


Afterlight

by Lovienne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders, Tumblr: jilytober
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 23:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20843942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovienne/pseuds/Lovienne
Summary: Starting their sixth year, Lily and her friends are faced with a series of changing events within the walls of Hogwarts. From hostile Slytherins to new (and old) suddenly irresistible blokes, times at Hogwarts are never boring. Multi-chapter, follows canon. Cover image: elyon-x on Tumblr (used with consent).





	1. The beginning

**Chapter 1 – The beginning**

Our story begins where most stories begin, at Kings Cross Station in London. It was 1976, on a rainy September first at quarter to eleven, when Lily pushed the trolley carrying her trunk towards platform 9 and 10. She was accompanied by an excited Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and her younger sister Petunia reluctantly following. Petunia was blonde, tall, lean, and incredibly moody.

'I don't get why I have to come every year,' she sneered against her mother, eyeing Lily's trunk with the utmost disgust.

'Oh hush now, Tuny,' her mother replied in return, eagerly following her youngest daughter Lily. It was not hard to miss Lily, she had beautiful auburn-colored hair that danced behind her while she hurried to the platforms.

'I am _not_ going through that wall again,' Petunia shivered as they reached the fence between Platform 9 and 10. Lily had stopped and turned around, trying to ignore the stinging sensation in her stomach caused by her sister's coldness.

'You don't need to follow me in, I will be fine,' she ensured them, swallowing the lump in her throat away; she knew that even her parents were a little shaky when it came to the magic fence.

Her mother approached her and squeezed her into a hug. 'Are you sure, Lil?' she said, stroking her daughter's hair.

'Positive,' Lily smiled as her mother loosened the embrace. Yet, there were some tears blinking in her eyes.

'You will write to us whenever you can, right Lilybug?' Her father wiped away one of her upwelling tears and hugged her as well. By now this was the sixth time they said goodbye on the platform, but never did it get any easier.

'Every week, just like always,' Lily promised, and her mother gave her one last kiss on her forehead. Lily looked at Petunia for a second, who did not move closer to her. Rather, she looked at the ground, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the concrete, and merely said: 'Goodbye, I guess.'

'Goodbye,' Lily said, hoping she would meet her sister's eyes, but she didn't. She sighed, met her parents' optimistic _we-will-talk-to-her _expression, said her last goodbyes, and ran through the fence to step onto Platform 9 ¾.

Lily had to blink her eyes a few times before she felt less disoriented, the platform was congested with students, parents, luggage, and noisy pets. She maneuvered with her trolley through the crowd, looking for a familiar face.

'Lily!'

She turned around. Remus Lupin approached her - he must have already put his trunk in the train - with a beaming smile on his scarred and friendly face. Remus Lupin was her fellow sixth year from house Gryffindor, and just like Lily a prefect. Most of all, he was her friend.

'Remus,' Lily acknowledged, and she hugged Remus. 'You are taller,' she smirked as she admired his height.

'A whole two inches,' Remus said proudly. 'How was your summer?'

'Oh, you know,' Lily shrugged her shoulders. 'Lonely,' she admitted painfully, hoping he would not continue on this topic. No longer having her best friend to help her through the summer, more specifically the spitefulness of her sister, had resulted in feeling as isolated from the world as ever.

Remus gave her an uplifting smile as a few second-year students eagerly waved at them. Last year she and Remus became prefects, and had been the main guides for the first years. They kindly waved back.

'I'm sorry Lily, it must have been hard.' He was referring to the Snape situation after all. A situation she did not want to start the year by talking about it. So she changed the subject.

'What about you?' She asked instead. Remus instantly looked cautious, scanning the crowd around him for any eavesdroppers.

'Well,' Remus continued concernedly, 'I was mostly out of town, had to be there for Siri-'

'LILY!' A girl interrupted him as she emerged from the crowd. They witnessed Kyra running towards them, knocking down a few nervous first years. She hugged Lily tightly and then Remus.

Lily did not know it yet, but if Remus would have finished that sentence, it would have saved Lily quite some trouble. But more on that later.

Kyra Collins was another sixth year, and she shared a dormitory with Lily. She had straight, raven hair at shoulder length with side bangs, bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks from the excitement. As always, she had a smile on her face.

'It's _so _good to see you guys,' she glowed as she wrapped her arm around Lily's shoulder. 'Let's get your stuff on board!' she insisted, seeing Lily's trolley. Lily shot a meaningful look at Remus, implying whether he would want to finish his news.

'It's fine,' he apologized. 'I got to get back to the guys, but I will see you at noon for the prefect meeting.' Lily nodded and Remus disappeared onto the train, quickly followed by Lily and Kyra. She couldn't help but wonder what summer business made Remus so serious, but she figured she would have to wait until at least after the feast to find out.

* * *

Another brand new sixth year appeared through the magic fence at 10.57. She nervously pushed her trolley through the crowd, reaching the first door of the train. Sometimes she wished she had magical folks too, it would save them a lot of time being stuck in traffic jams all over London.

She quickly brushed her blonde bangs out of her face as she managed to lift her trunk a few inches off the trolley, but it nearly fell on her foot as she did. But it didn't.

She looked up and saw a guy, whom she recognized to be a sixth year Hufflepuff, who had caught the collapsing trunk. He gave her a smile.

'Need some help?' He asked unnecessarily.

'Please,' she said apologetically, and with one swing he lifted the trunk into the doorstep of the train and put them in one of the racks in the aisle between cars. The whistle blew and she hastily boarded the train too, abandoning the trolley on the platform.

As she closed the door, the train slowly left the station. She looked up to the guy, what was his name again? She had a couple of classes with him but had never been a very noticeable guy. Weird, she thought, he looked quite cute with his slightly disheveled brown hair.

'Are you a sixth year too?' he asked her. Of course, he never noticed her either, what a surprise. She was the kind of friend within a group that got overshadowed by the presence, importance, and loudness of her friends. As much as she hated to be considered as the wallflower from the group, screaming over the crowd to get noticed was just not really her thing.

'Abigail, but you can say Abby, I'm in Gryffindor,' she told him and they shook hands.

'Ah, of course, you're Marlene's friend, right?' Referring to one of those louder sixth-year Gryffindors.

'Yes,' Abby snickered, Marlene had dated – she was not very fond of the word _snogged_ – almost entire Hufflepuff house. Not this guy, though.

'Ethan,' he introduced himself. Abby gave him a smile, and then they were both silent. _Say something, _she pushed herself. _Anything! _Awkwardly, she told him she'd better find her friends.

'See you around,' he smiled at her.

'Bye,' she said regretfully and walked away to find her friends. She mentally kicked herself, should she have asked him more? Did she come off as rude? Abby frustratingly tried to find her friends. She hated her shyness sometimes, even if she wanted to converse, she just couldn't find the words.

At last, she found her friends in one of the compartments halfway through the train. She was greeted by Lily and Kyra who shared the compartment between the two of them.

'No Marlene?' Abby asked surprised.

'She was chatting to John back on the platform,' Kyra explained, cheekily raising her eyebrows. Lily laughed. 'Of course.'

Abby sat down and Kyra examined her. 'What?' Abby asked, her skin turning pink. 'Do I have something between my teeth?'

'Are you going to tell us why you are blushing?' Kyra grinned. Kyra was way too observant when it came to her friends. Even though she didn't possess the shyness Abby resented of herself so much, she never minded taking the backseat and just observe. Playing matchmaker was her absolute favorite hobby, which was interesting to her friends cause she never seemed to care too much about relationships herself. Quidditch was her boyfriend, she always said.

'Ky, give her a break,' Lily said and turned to Abby. 'How was your summer?' she asked. _Bless Lily, _Abby thought.

'Look what I have,' someone announced from the entrance of the compartment. A tall, light-brown haired girl stood in the doorway, holding a guitar case.

'A hickey from John?' Kyra mocked her, and Marlene narrowed her eyes at her.

'Ha ha,' Marlene said.

The next half hour or so were filled with holiday stories. Abby and her muggle parents had been to Greece, and Marlene admired her sun-kissed skin and highlights in her already blonde hair. Kyra and her parents had visited her brother in France, who was working as a liaison between the British and French ministry of magic. Marlene, who never really cared for studying and was more interesting in the performing arts, had been to a summer music course advertised in the Daily Prophet. Lily had been home mostly and did not want to talk about not seeing her childhood friend anymore, she'd rather ask question after question to avoid that topic.

After the holiday stories, Kyra and Lily started a brainstorm session about who would be the new Defence teacher. The past teacher, Professor Ashwood, had been a boring old snooze who retired at the end of last year, despite having only been at Hogwarts for one year. Seemingly, no one lasted past one year anyway as long as they had attended Hogwarts. Abby quietly listened, slightly lost in thought about Ethan trying to remember anything she could from him but with little success, and Marlene was more occupied with her guitar and softly hummed to the sound of the strings.

'_I gotta get back to Hogwarts…' _Marlene sang along to the melody she was playing.

'If you manage to finish that song, it will be my new anthem,' Kyra was distracted due to Marlene's lyric. The girls laughed.

'I love home, but I can't help but be so excited to go back,' Lily sighed, her mind traveling to the castle that was waiting for them.

'There's no place like Hogwarts,' Abby concluded, and they all sat for a while, lost in thought, staring at the passing landscape.

'You know what _I _am wondering?' Marlene continued the conversation, still casually strumming her guitar. 'Who Noelle is dating now.'

* * *

As the girls continued talking, the hours slowly crept by and the darkness fell. Lily left at noon for the prefect's meeting, which was kept surprisingly short. They changed into their robes minutes before the train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station, and they could hear Hagrid outside calling the first-years.

They left their belongings behind and stepped onto the platform. Not far from them she noticed Severus Snape – skinny, pale and surrounded by Slytherins. Lily shivered, how times had changed.

Remus found Lily and greeted the other girls, and together they walked towards the carriages, followed by more Gryffindors who reunited with their friends after a long summer holiday. As they passed the Slytherins, Lily couldn't help but notice their stares; almost the entire sixth year was whispering, laughing unkindly and pointing towards the crowd of Gryffindors.

'We haven't even made it to the castle yet,' Remus sighed but remained silent. Lily felt there was something he had wanted to add to that sentence but apparently chose to withhold.

After a ten-minute carriage ride, all students arrived safely on the grounds of Hogwarts. The castle grew majestically as they came closer, surrounded by stars painted in the night sky. The sight never grew old, Lily thought, as the usual shivers went down her spine.

They made their way safely into the Great Hall, where the starlit sky loomed over them as they took place on the Gryffindor table. Not much later, the first years walked into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and Lily took the opportunity to glance around the table. A bit further down the table she noticed Remus and a short, mouse-blonde haired boy called Peter Pettigrew. Opposite from him sat Sirius Black, who normally exhibited a bad boy appearance with his longer, black hair and grey colored eyes, something he was tremendously popular for. Today, he looked pale and apathetic. Lily was wondering what was off with him. Next to Black said the last member of the so called 'Marauders', which was James Potter, who was possibly even more arrogant than Sirus Black.

But he wasn't wearing his usual arrogant grin as if others were granted with the delight of his presence, something which he normally displayed the first day back. Why did Potter seem more serious? But why did Black look so pale? And why did the Slytherins keep looking at their table?

Lily's questions were answered quite soon.

After everyone enjoyed the elaborate welcome feast and caught up with the remaining friends from their houses, Professor Dumbledore finished his welcome speech and all students emerged from the Great Hall.

Lily and Remus went ahead with the new fifth year prefects and they grouped in the corner in the hall. It was the duty of the new prefects to introduce the first years to Hogwarts and teach them the route to the Gryffindor common room. Lily and Remus, the sixth year prefects, were there to ensure everything was said and to walk behind the group in case anyone dared to wander off.

'The Gryffindor common room is located in a tower on the seventh floor, and in order to reach the seventh floor, we have to ascend the famous marble staircase,' Ruby Newton explained. She eyed Lily nervously, who gave her a supportive smile implying that she was doing great.

Meanwhile, across the hall and just out of hearing distance, Sirius Black followed his friends out of the Great Hall. His face looked grim and uncharacteristic for someone who had just relished the welcome feast. He did not seem in the mood for chatter at all.

Once outside, he was blocked by Mulciber, Malfoy and his cousin Bellatrix, who all belonged to Slytherin and had been sworn enemies since day one. Behind them stood her sister Narcissa Black and Snape.

'Hold it there,' Mulciber triumphally sneered. Bellatrix giggled devilishly, approaching Black.

'Finally made the wise decision to move out, didn't you? Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga look _so_ much happier. You know, the kind of happiness when you finally get rid of all the _vermin_ in your house.'

'Fuck off,' Black sneered and he tried to get past them, but Bellatrix stepped in front of him again. Behind her, the other Marauders noticed they had lost their friend.

'Ooh sweet Siri doesn't want to say hi,' Bellatrix sneered.

'I said_,_' Black interrupted while he raised his wand, '_fuck off._'

The other Slytherins hooted and a couple raised their wands as well.

'He has learned some new words over the summer,' Mulciber provocatively said.

'It's what his parents kept telling him, ' Bellatrix added.

A bright red bolt escaped Black's wand as he lost his temper and he therefore ignited the first inter-house duel of 1976. Bellatrix protected herself while Lestrange lunged himself forwards, pushing Black hard against the stone wall.

'Paralitis!' Potters voice yelled behind them and Lestrange fell paralyzed on the floor.

In the corner, Lily and Remus noticed the tumult across the hall, and they saw how Potter paralyzed Lestrange from behind.

'Shit,' Remus said and he and Lily hurried towards the battlefront, abandoning the group of first-years who had just started climbing the staircase.

'STOP IT!' Lily yelled, and she disarmed Potter, while Remus threw himself between Black and the other Slytherins.

'What the HELL are you doing?!' Potter screamed at Lily, and he disregarded the search for his wand to aim a punch at Mulciber who had escaped past Remus. Lily froze.

'That's enough,' a calm voice said from the entrance to the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore had left the feast sided by Professor McGonagall, who looked utterly shocked, her eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets.

'Well I _never_,' she stumbled, her lips in a very thin line.

'Who started this fight?' she demanded, looking at the multiple, flushed and disheveled faces. The Slytherins cowardly kept quiet, eyeing the Gryffindors with looks of utter disgust.

'I did, Professor,' Black broke the silence, 'but I wouldn't have if _they _didn't corner me-'

'To my office, Black,' McGonagall interrupted him. 'You as well,' she pointed at the small group of Slytherins, not getting fooled by their silence.

'Professor, Sirius only defended himself,' Potter protested, but he was silenced by McGonagall's threatening look.

'Don't tempt me, Potter, or you'll be in trouble as well.' Potter opened his mouth but Lily punched him in his side.

Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall led the group of mischiefs up the staircase, leaving a bedazzled Remus, Lily, and James Potter behind.

'You _had_ to disarm me,' Potter sneered at Lily and he scanned the floor searching for his wand, which he found a few feet away.

'You _had_ to get into a fight on the _first _night back,' Lily countered. 'Were you bored already? Psyched that after your holiday you could _finally _get back at what you do best, hexing everyone who you don't like?' Over the years, James Potter had always found a way to deliberately cross every possible boundary, hexing the Slytherins and even other innocent people, and ignoring every rule ever written simply because he perceived himself to be superior to the laws written by men. And on the first day back, he proved this year would not be any different.

'You have no idea what you are talking about,' Potter muttered instead of his usual counter-arguments, and he promptly walked away. Lily, slightly thrown off-guard by his unusual sidestepping, irritably followed him.

'What, now I am not worthy of your explanations? Mercy, Potter, every time I hope you gain a little dignity over the holidays you –'

'Not now,' he said and the dark tone in his voice made her stop. Remus appeared behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

'Sirius was disowned by the Black family two weeks ago,' he explained while they watched Potter disappear onto the staircase. 'He moved in with James. The Slytherins were provoking Sirius, James was only sticking up for his friend.'

Lily's anger changed into embarrassment. 'I didn't know,' she tried to explain but she felt like a fool. 'I thought he was just randomly causing a fight with the Slytherins.'

Remus sighed. 'Honestly, it was never random to begin with. I'm sure he'll be less upset with you tomorrow. It has just been tough on all of us.'

Lily sighed and suggested they would go to the dormitory. Whilst walking up the staircase Remus filled her in on what happened. He explained how Black got into a massive fight with his parents over their anti-muggle beliefs, how he packed his things and left, suddenly stood on the doorstep of the Potters in the middle of the night, and the Marauders meeting almost every single day at the Potter residence the weeks to come. How they all handled it differently: Black throwing things in his rage, Remus trying to be calm and logical, Pettigrew mostly agreeing with Black's bold statements about his family, and Potter being awfully quiet, having lost his usual cheeriness ever since.

Lily entered the girls' dormitory, where everyone was already prepared for bed.

'What's up with the face?' Marlene asked. 'Some naughty first years giving you trouble?'

'You could say that,' Lily sighed, as she crashed on her bed.

Her friends looked at her curiously, so Lily sat up straight.

'McGonagall gave the Slytherins and Black detention for dueling,' she explained and the girls gasped.

'_Already?' _Noelle screeched, sitting down next to Lily on her bed, smelling gossip. Noelle was the fifth resident of their dormitory, a beautiful girl of French descent.

'I disarmed Potter before he could join in too,' Lily bitterly said, ignoring the details of his outburst trying to hide the embarrassment that had followed after her action. She explained in more detail what Remus told her about Black's situation, and the others seemed shocked.

'Good for him, though,' Marlene said, looking at the others. 'He does not belong in such a toxic place anyway.'

'It must be so hard though,' Abby said. The others nodded.

'By the way,' Lily turned to Kyra as the other girls continued their bedtime ritual. 'Did Potter become Quidditch captain?' Lily asked her, unable to hide the mildly repulsed tone from her voice. She had noticed the badge pinned to his chest after he had screamed at her.

'Did _who _become captain?' Kyra retorted, dodging the question until Lily formulated it better.

'Did _James _become Quidditch captain?' Lily rolled her eyes.

'You know, one of these days you should learn to call him by his actual name,' Kyra simply said.

'Potter is his name!' Lily replied stubbornly.

'You know what I mean.'

Lily paused, staring at Kyra. 'Well?' she demanded.

Kyra sighed. 'Yes, he is Quidditch captain. What's the big deal?' Kyra gained a spot on the Quidditch team last year, joining Potter and five other Gryffindors in their quest to win the Quidditch cup. Whereas before, Kyra never really spent any time talking to him (mostly due to Lily's feelings of betrayal if she did), after joining the team she quickly became friends. But no matter how hard she tried to convince Lily to give the new Quidditch captain a chance, Lily refused. After all, shouldn't she base who she befriended on how the said person treated _her, _not her friends? And he had not given her any reason whatsoever.

'Why didn't you tell me?' Lily was surprised.

'Why did you want me to tell you? I thought you hated him?' She concluded.

Lily sighed frustrated. 'I thought you would warn me when something occurred that could possibly make that guy even _more _arrogant!'

'You are being a drama queen,' Kyra rolled her eyes. 'Let him be proud, it's a pretty big accomplishment. I'm sure he'll shut up about it soon enough.'

'Yeah, at the end of times,' Lily snorted.

The last thing Lily would have expected her school year to start with were concerns about a certain James Potter. It angered her that someone so self-centered could not only get away with it but got rewarded with a highly acclaimed position. Lily liked justice; if you do something right, you get rewarded. But for Potter, this promotion was not more than pure bragging rights. All the more reason to parade with that damn snitch through the halls like he owned the school.

And, on the other hand, she replayed in her mind how Potter had lashed out at her. Normally he would have joked, it would have been sarcastic comebacks, he had even for some god forbidden reason found it an excellent time to ask her out. But this time it was different, he meant it and was genuinely angry with her, and Lily was not the person who was able to deal with someone being this infuriated with her.

_Just give it a night's rest, _she thought to herself. It would probably not bother her in the morning anymore. She realized how she always carried the belief that in his eyes she could never really do anything wrong, and now she had.

* * *

Lily did not sleep well that night. Over the next days, things did not return to normal either.

He was avoiding contact with her and anyone else, except for his fellow Marauders. He would never leave Blacks side. Lily noticed the whispers in the hallway. Other people – mostly girls – noticed the change too. Instead of Potter's usual cheerfulness and pride dominating the room, he rather withdrew in the corner, looking moody and uninterested.

Lily's conscience felt heavier as the days passed and he uncharacteristically left her and her friends alone. It gnawed on her how their last interaction went, and it irritated her how she was still bothered by this. She honestly didn't mind him not pushing her buttons, as it made her life a lot more hassle-free, but it was like choosing between two extremes. And so she realized it was unlike her to leave a fight unresolved. She ought to speak with him at one point to clear the air.

Tomorrow would be a good day for that.


	2. The Hogwarts rumour mill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read chapter 1! I'm quite excited about this one, I wanted something interesting and coherent while still introducing some important side characters (apart from the Marauders, Lily, Kyra, Abby and Marlene). I hope you like it! Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)

**Chapter 2 – The Hogwarts Rumor Mill**

The Hogwarts rumor mill was famous for its speed, and infamous for its accuracy. In order for the rumor mill to start its engines, the following must happen.

First, a rumor must be developed. You can spread a story about an event you or someone else has participated in with consent, eavesdrop on conversations and pass the information without consent, or simply by creating one yourself, for whatever reasons.

Secondly, a rumor must spread to reach a wide audience. The rumor chain should branch out in order to consequently evolve into a widespread rumor.

Finally, maintaining a rumor consists of proper management of the rumor, all details must at all times be passed consistently with how they were received. Failure to do so will jeopardize the accuracy due to the substitution with untrue details in order to fill the gaps.

Luckily, although not so luckily for certain people, the Hogwarts rumor mill barely needed a manual and was regularly self-functioning. Rumors at breakfast could easily become headlines at lunch. Numerous students had been affected by the inaccuracy and falseness of the rumors, and it was often debated how rumors transformed over the course of a single day. For example, in the fourth year, the rumor had spread that Christopher Mulciber was actually female, even though it was debatable whether this inaccurate rumor stemmed from a more truthful and transformed one, or was purposefully brought to life. It had been rumored for months to the annoyance of Mulciber before the source of the rumor, Potter and Black, were revealed.

The first Friday of the new school year marked the start of the rumor mill into overdrive.

After classes, the Gryffindor common room hosted its usual crowd of joyful students celebrating the start of the first weekend. Lily and her friends were lounging in the seats in front of the fireplace and were debating the best and worst events of the first week, with topics varying from the difficulty of nonverbal spells to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Their attention shifted when an enthusiastic Jim Murray entered the common room and walked straight to Sirius Black, who was reclining in an armchair near the window.

'What's up,' Sirius greeted Jim, who ignored the question and cut straight to the chase.

'Mate, is it true you shagged Regina McHale in the catacombs after she won the League Cup?' Jim Murray asked him in awe, referring to the world-famous Seeker of Puddlemere United. The question caused several students to abandon their conversations and wait eagerly for the answer of the Marauder.

Sirius threw his head in his neck and roared with laughter. 'You tell a simple Summer holiday story at breakfast and the whole school knows about it by the end of the day,' he said with faked frustration, grinning proudly.

'I demand a statue. Then they can finally toss the one of Maximilian the Marvellous from the third floor.'

In order to fully understand this particular rumor, let's further explore how this rumor came to be in more detail while we go back in time.

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**EIGHT PERIOD: 3.32 PM (TRANSFIGURATION)**

Lily felt much better after her conversation with Potter earlier that day.

She bit the end of her quill while she partly listened to Professor McGonagall's lecture about transforming hydrangeas into flamingos. Potter appeared much more himself; he was leaning over the doodles Black was drawing on his parchment, giving him directions which Black annoyedly refused. They received numerous glares from McGonagall, and Lily felt a strange relief that everything had returned to normal.

Lily was not sure whether it was her conversation with him that had changed it. Probably not, as Sirius seemed to have lectured him too. All she knew was that the unnerving feeling left when they buried the hatchet and were back to normal again – well, at least not fuming at one another.

She was caught staring when he glanced over his shoulder and met her eyes – damn it, how did he always catch the rare times she actually acknowledged his presence? He winked at her and she rolled her eyes at him, returning to McGonagall's lecture. Yes, totally back to normal.

A few rows behind Lily, Noelle Beaudoin grimaced as her head rested on her hands, palms cupping her cheeks. She had entered the classroom with so little as a nod towards her desk mate, Jim Murray, who was startled at the sudden coldness of the charming Gryffindor. Noelle was one of the most popular girls at school, rumored to be a Veela (which she stubbornly denied), and went where the grass was greenest. But today, Noelle had been in a terrible mood ever since her conversation with Camilla Garcia, ruminating over the story she had just heard and wallowing over her reduced chances with a certain boy.

'You alright?' Jim finally whispered to her after McGonagall started her lecture.

'No,' Noelle scoffed, she was not in the mood to be sympathetic nor lie about feeling absolute bloody _fantastic_. What a horrible start of the school year.

'Want to talk about it?' Jim tried again. She liked Jim, he was a cool lad, a bit needy sometimes though. He was one of those guys who was always keen to converse with her but never had the guts to ask her out, not that Noelle was ever in need of invitations – she had plenty. He was a bit too immature for her anyway.

'I heard a rumor today' Noelle sighed. Maybe Jim had more information and could invalidate the rumor, he _did _share a dormitory with the boy.

This caught Jim's interest. 'What did you hear?'

Noelle stared at Black from the corner of her eye, although Jim did not follow her gaze.

'Sirius Black shagged Regina McHale after the League Cup in the catacombs.'

'No way,' Jim gasped, and he explored Noelle's face to detect any signs of untruth.

Noelle simply shrugged her shoulder, her grimace worsening.

'You're into him, aren't you?' Jim carefully enquired, it hadn't been a secret to him that Noelle fancied the Marauder at some point, she'd been all but subtle about that. She went out with Black once in their fourth year, but as they were very alike, he also went where the grass looked greenest. So they never dated again. Jim felt a mixture of envy and intrigue.

'Yeah, well, apparently it's a dead-end anyway,' and Noelle buried her face in her arms. It was not like her to be hung up over a particular guy, especially since she could get almost any guy she wanted. _Almost_, she reminded herself.

'I didn't even know he _knew _Regina McHale,' Jim said questionably. McHale had been a hot topic all of last year, as she broke record after record catching the Snitch within minutes, sometimes even after seconds, a match had started. There really wasn't any question who would win the League Cup of 1976. Which someone like McHale in your team, it was guaranteed.

'Where did you hear this?' He asked nosily.

'Camilla Garcia,' Noelle's muted voice answered.

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**SEVENTH PERIOD: 2.35** ** PM (LIBRARY)**

Noelle Beaudoin was of French descent and naturally pretty, and she knew it. Although she was a firm believer in inner beauty, something she advocated towards her friends, she could not deny that objective beauty was one of her assets. Did that make her shallow? Perhaps. At least it saved her a lot of time getting boys warmed up to her, something she did not have the patience for.

Admittedly, she was a bit shallow after all.

Noelle pushed her blonde, long wavy hair over her shoulder as she walked towards the library. While her friends took Herbology at this time, she had a free period that she would usually spend working ahead on some homework. She always bitterly regretted this decision, but it did free up her evenings to socialize in the common room.

The library was remarkably crowded – mostly eager students who would soon surrender to lounging in their common rooms as the novelty of the school year would wear off – so without much annoyance, she investigated the tables further into the library.

'Noelle!' A girl called her, rewarded with a warning from the librarian, Madam Pince. Noelle reluctantly turned towards the girl.

She was greeted by Camilla Garcia, a beautiful Ravenclaw with olive skin and dark, curly hair. She sat with her friends, who lacked her beauty but who seemed to adore anything that came out of her mouth.

'Oh, hey,' Noelle gave her a half-hearted wave. Camilla Garcia was her most pretentious friend: they acted like they liked each other when in reality they hated each other's guts. What Noelle was to Gryffindor – the popular girl – Camilla was to Ravenclaw, and an undeclared competition existed in who was most popular in Hogwarts.

Noelle mostly hated her since the power dynamic within their rivalry shifted after she had drawn the short straw last year. Noelle had been dating the Hufflepuff Chaser, but after he suspiciously avoided her before the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, she was shocked to see him walking into Honeydukes with Camilla.

Noelle had chosen to let it go in order to save her image and keep her dignity, telling him afterward that she was not that interested in him anyway. Plus, she had gotten plenty of invitations anyway, which she mostly used as arguments in these situations.

Camilla came to apologize the Monday after. 'I hope it's alright?' she had innocently said, of which the subtext screamed 'I stole your boyfriend because I'm more popular, what are you going to do about it?' She had a mischievous sparkle in her eyes anyway when she said it, that's how Noelle knew she did not mean a single word she said and just came to rub it in her face.

Camilla kept her friends close, but her enemies closer, and that's how Camilla and Noelle ended having this faux friendship neither invested in much. Noelle wished they could just ignore each other and avoid the forged small talk, but if there was something she did not was, it was a bitch. Well, sometimes, but only if that person deserved it. Camilla certainly did. Noelle knew however that a feud between them would ignite the attention of all of Hogwarts, and she dreaded negative publicity.

'Are you here to work too?' Camilla asked sweetly. _Clearly._

'Getting a head start on my essay,' Noelle shrugged her shoulders.

'Well, _we_ were just discussing something super interesting I've just heard,' Camilla enthusiastically said in an attempt to draw her attention. Noelle could just _feel _it was a trap. Pretend to be interested, or say she didn't care and walk away? Her inner debate led her to the first option.

'What is that?' she tried to sound interested but did not succeed.

'It's about Sirius Black,' Camilla started, dramatically pausing to witness Noelle's expression change from disinterest to curiosity. _Damn it, _Noelle thought. Camilla knew that Noelle had a weakness for Black.

She wanted to walk away and not play along in Camilla's psychological games, but her curiosity won. She waited for Camilla to proceed.

'_I _heard,' she started, eying all her friends who were giggling, 'that Sirius _shagged_ Regina McHale after the Quidditch final.' Her friends immediately responded with more giggling and exclamations such as 'wow!', but Camilla watched Noelle victoriously, who struggled to remain her indifferent posture.

'How did that happen?' She inquired, trying not to sneer the question at Camilla, whose corner of her mouth quirked up.

'We think he sneaked into the catacombs,' she answered looking at her friends for confirmation, and they obeyed nodding fiercely to Noelle.

'Well, that's good for him,' Noelle simply said, remaining her cool. 'Anyway, I got to run, see you,' and she departed, Camilla's friends waving friendly at her and Camilla watching her walk away with a smug grin on her face.

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**FOURTH PERIOD, 11.12 AM (HISTORY OF MAGIC)**

Marlene and Lily unenthusiastically entered the History of Magic classroom. Lily quite enjoyed history, if it was being told in exciting ways. The never-ending monotonous blabber of Professor Binns had made her want to drop this subject altogether if it wasn't for Kyra who convinced her History would be worthwhile taking for any future career, so she continued following the class. Ironically, Kyra did not. _A famous Quidditch player does not need to know about history, _was her argument.

Marlene sat down at their desk near the window, but Lily hesitated. The classroom was still in disarray, Binns had not arrived yet as there were still five minutes left for his monologue to start, and Potter was sitting only one desk away from them arguing with Black.

'Thanks _mom_,' she overheard Black sarcastically remark and Potter looked offended, 'if you are going to keep pampering me and walk me around the school like I'm your freaking _pet_, the whole school might as well think you change my diapers during free period.'

'Don't be such a drama queen, Padfoot,' Potter retorted, frustrated his friend was refusing the caring treatment he had been providing. 'I'm only trying to –'

'- help, yes, you are helping me into insanity,' Black interrupted. 'It's been a month, I'm alive and breathing, and we are at Hogwarts. Can we just _please _go back to how things were? Like hexing Snape when he's on the loo, taking revenge on Mortimer because again, I said I was _fine_, or what about you stalking Ev-'

Before Black finished his final suggestion, he noticed Lily standing in the aisle next to them. Potter shot him a dangerous look.

'The chair is free, Evans,' Sirius stood up and gestured an undecided Lily towards his empty seat next to Potter, whose jaw dropped in insult. Sirius walked towards Marlene and let himself fall down in Lily's usual seat. Lily hesitated but then decidedly sat down next to Potter. Potter gazed at her, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, face still flushed from his argument with Black.

'Don't give me that look, I'm not a Boggart,' Lily brushed off, trying to relieve the tension. She didn't recall ever having a serious conversation with him; she felt slightly clueless as to how to approach him.

'I _am _deadly terrified of cynicism though,' he replied. Lily sniffed.

'So…' Lily started uncertainly, 'about the welcome feast-'

'I'm sorry,' Potter interrupted her, and Lily blinked at him. 'I was out of line, you were only trying to dismantle the fight and I was angry. I shouldn't have yelled at you, and I'm sorry for that.' He ruffled his hair, but rather in an apologetic way, as opposed to his usual _look-at-my-amazing-hair-and-will-you-go-out-with-me _kind of way. Lily was startled at the civility and sheer existence of his apology.

However, this didn't settle her guilt just yet, so she spoke her rehearsed lines nonetheless.

'I am sorry too,' Potter wanted to interrupt her again, but she held her hand up, cueing him to be silent. 'I intruded in a fight I did not even see the beginning of, and I judged too fast. I should not have said all those things to you, it was unfair and unfounded.'

Now it was Potter's time to blink at her. 'It felt pretty well-founded to me,' he said admittedly, and Lily snickered.

'Well you didn't start the fight, did you?' Potter shrugged his shoulders in an 'I guess so' kind of way.

'And I am truly sorry for what happened to Sirius,' Lily added, and Potter was surprised at what must have been the first time she used his best mate's first name. 'From the past days, it clearly seems it has been hard on all of you. I mean, you haven't bragged about becoming Quidditch captain _once, _which is _very _unlike you…'

Potter laughed out loud and he introduced a reappearance of his signature crooked grin. 'Don't worry about it, Evans. Although it is heart-warming how concerned you are about my wellbeing,' he winked at her.

Lily rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, and Potter looked quite proud of himself. Just as Lily was unsure how to continue the conversation, Black reappeared at the desk.

'I changed my mind, I need my mate,' Black demanded, behind him Marlene rolled her eyes and murmured 'you baby', while Potter murmured 'you wanker'. Lily gave Potter a tiny smile and switched seats again, leaving a satisfied Potter behind.

History of Magic certainly wasn't as sensational as the first Defence class of the year, Azula Clearwater thought. She was writing down notes on her parchment, but rather being the transcript of the endless waffling of Professor Binns, she made a list of convenient patrol days that would not intervene with her study schedule. Azula was a sixth-year prefect, something she was still extremely excited about.

Next to here, Camilla Garcia was examining a strain of hair, twisting it between her finger.

'Do you think my hair got lighter over the Summer?' She whispered to Azula, without losing focus on her curly brown hair. Azula looked up from her notes.

'I guess, well, maybe a little?' Not really to be honest, but she guessed it was the answer Camilla was hoping to hear.

She got along with Camilla pretty well which was merely a well-thought-out plan than inseparable friendship. Azula had been determined to not be one of Camilla's targets. Get on her wrong side, and your reputation is in serious danger. However, Azula never had any ambition to join Camilla's 'bimbettes' as they were called outside of Ravenclaw, Camilla's loyal band of followers, who seriously besmirched the Ravenclaw image of intelligence and striving for knowledge with their endless giggles and looks-oriented chatter.

Camilla sighed. 'I'm so bored already, I wish at least I had an interesting Summer…'

Azula rolled her eyes internally. Camilla had visited her family in Barcelona for almost the entire two months, all the while Azula had been stuck with her family in Cornwall, with only an occasional trip to Diagon Alley to break the pattern.

'No handsome Spanish bullfighters?' Azula inquired, not too interested but boys were always a safe subject to keep Camilla satisfied.

'Well there was Juan, and Victor, but they weren't really my type, y'know,' Camilla said as-a-matter-of-factly. 'I prefer certain Hogwarts boys.' She added resolutely.

'You mean Black?' Azula's attention spiking. They had plenty of conversations about the Gryffindor stud many times in the last year.

'Hmm,' Camilla nodded in agreement, looking over her shoulder to watch Black attempting to nap over his empty parchment scroll.

'I – well, I think Black may be seeing someone,' Azula dared to reply, slightly fearing Camilla might blame this unfortunate event on her. Then again, Camilla wasn't _that_ unreasonable.

Camilla immediately ripped her eyes off of Black and gawked at Azula. 'He is?! How do you know?' Her stare could have made the best secret keepers cave.

'Well,' Azula quietly continued, 'I just heard from Zoey that Black snogged Regina McHale, you know, the famous Seeker from Puddlemere United' (Camilla looked lost) 'after the national Quidditch League final.'

Azula waited impatiently as Camilla slowly took in this information, she could hear her brain process, calculating her renewed odds with Black, and of course, more importantly, what would she do with this rumor. Calling her the queen of rumors would not be inappropriate at all.

'That must have been the most famous shag everyone's ever had,' Camilla simply concluded, obviously not returning the favor in showing her hand to Azula. But she didn't mind, as long as she stayed on her good side as an informant, she was fine.

'Do you think they shagged too?' Azula wondered. Camilla nodded.

'Definitely. He goes for the home run if he can.'

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**THIRD PERIOD, 10:20 AM (DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS)**

All the sixth years were impatiently thrilled when the third period arrived. It would be their first class in Defence against the Dark Arts with the new teacher, Professor Mortimer. Despite their attempts to extract information from other Gryffindors who already had their first class, the popular reply 'oh, you'll see' had not provided them with much.

None of Lily's friends dropped Defence after their O.W.L's last year, so they occupied two desks at the window, Lily seated next to Kyra. She flashed a look towards the Marauders in the middle row all the way in the back of the classroom. She noticed Remus and Pettigrew curiously scanning the classroom, most likely trying to locate the new teacher, Potter reclined so far backward in his chair that his face almost disappeared under his desk, and Sirius was a mixture of excitement and irritation towards Potter's (once again) bad-tempered exterior, trying to kick his best friend's chair so he would fall over. This was not the right time, Lily figured.

The classroom was buzzing with enthusiastic chatter and students flipping through their Defence book for the first time that semester, when out of nowhere the buzz was killed by an invisible force; the books abruptly shut and fell dead on the table, and the chatting students were silently grabbing their throats, wondering where their voices had gone.

'I expect silence and patience before my class commences,' said a stern voice at the door. The students turned around and saw a menacing looking man standing in the doorway. He looked in his sixties, his hair balding in the middle, leaving two areas of grey hair at either side, and his expression was cold and grave.

He flicked his wand and everyone's voices returned, resulting in relieved gasps throughout the classroom. Professor Mortimer marched to the front, turning around and once again stared critically at his class.

'I am Professor Mortimer,' he continued, narrowing his eyes and his voice deep and sinister, 'and I am your Defence against the Dark Arts teacher this year. I will not tolerate any noise-,' he once against silenced Jim Murray with a flick of his wand, who had been sniffing, '- distractions- ,' another wand wave and all the blinds closed simultaneously, creating a grim ambiance of candles reflecting dimly against the faces of the shocked students, '- or disrespect.' With a final wand gesture, Potter was brutally launched from a reclined position straight up into his seat, landing his stomach against the edge of the desk with a loud '_oomph_'.

'This semester,' he continued as if there was absolutely no harm in his graphic warnings, 'we will be focusing on nonverbal spells.' The corner of his mouth twitched up sadistically when the otherwise enthusiastic classroom stayed dead silent.

'I will also be allocating everyone to different seats, to ensure the three rules will be followed without difficulty,' and this time students shot wretched looks at their desk mates. 'But that's for later concern, today I will assess everyone's capabilities and behavior and base the reassignment upon my observations.'

The rest of the hour, Mortimer explained the principles of nonverbal spells and they were told to practice a simple _wingardium leviosa _on their quills. During the class, Mortimer paraded around, belittling the non-existent nonverbal skills of every student. When he got to Lily, who was one of the first to lift her quill a few inches without speaking, Mortimer simply mumbled 'Muggle-borns always have beginners luck' and strode off. Lily had to push Kyra back into her chair, who was seething at the demeanor of their new Professor.

'Professor,' a voice sounded from the back of the class, and every single student dropped their wand out of the curiosity towards the brave student who dared to break the silence. Unsurprisingly, it was Sirius Black who casually sat back in his chair, gracefully waving his wand towards his quill that floated a few feet above his desk.

'Can I move onto another object, this one's getting a little easy,' he finished as he grinned towards his friends. Remus resisted the urge to plant his palm on his face.

'Is that so?' Mortimer slowly remarked, walking towards Black. The class held their breaths.

'Well, if you are so confident about your nonverbal skills, mister Black, why don't you challenge me into an innocent nonverbal wizard duel?' His eyes twinkling with animosity. Black laughed, although there was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

'I think that's jumping the gun a bit, don't you think, Professor?' he said, boldly twirling his wand in his hand.

'Oh I think not,' Mortimer said, and he spread his arms. 'Disarm me.'

'I- well, eh…' Black stammered but Mortimer gestured once more, so Sirius rose to his feet and mumbled 'Well you asked for it.'

Black raised his wand, his face evidently focusing on the words he was reciting in his head, but before he could succeed in a single spell he was blasted off his feet and landed against the wall behind him, collapsing onto the ground and bewilderedly rubbing the back of his head. All students gasped and covered their mouths with their hands, as the other Marauders rushed to help up their friend.

'Disrespect is not tolerated in this classroom, neither is speaking out of turn,' Mortimer ruthlessly repeated once more. 'Any act of violation of these rules will result in punishment. Now, 30 points from Gryffindor, and next time you will be rewarded with detention.'

After ten more dreadful minutes, during which students strictly concentrated on their quills and nobody dared to make a single noise - not even Black who was still lightheadedly rubbing his head and did not pick up his wand out of protest - the bell finally rang.

Nobody hesitated and the classroom was empty within seconds. Zoey Jacobs, the Hufflepuff prefect, exited the classroom to catch up with Azula Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect.

'Any chance we can abuse our power to get that bloke fired?' she tried, smiling painfully. Azula groaned.

'Just when you think it can't get any worse, we get a sadistic freak as a teacher. What was Dumbledore thinking?' Azula snorted, wondering how on earth someone like Mortimer could possibly get hired.

'Anyway,' Zoey changed the subject, 'I've been meaning to tell you, I heard the craziest thing during Arithmancy.' Despite their responsible positions, Zoey and Azula made it a sport to exchange juicy gossip from either their own or other houses; it was one of the pillars of their friendship.

Zoey leaned a bit closer and nudged Azula to do the same.

'Sirius Black snogged Regina McHale after the Quidditch League final!' She whispered in surprise as if she couldn't believe what she was saying.

'Wow,' Azula answered, astonished. 'How did you find out?'

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**FIRST PERIOD, 8:33 AM (ARITMANCY)**

Lily and Abby sat in front of the class. Professor Vector had ordered the class to start their assignments in chapter one, thus everyone was quietly focusing on their books. Abby absently stared at the formulas on the page, and could not help but glance over her shoulder. A few rows behind her sat Ethan. How was it possible that she never knew his name, but had classes with him for the past five years?

The answer was actually quite simple. Ethan was not a part of any major clubs or teams, he always sat in the back or at the sides of the classroom. He never raised his hand, he never spoke up. He never did anything memorable. He was just _there._

Abby observed him as he leaned over his assignment in deep concentration. She viewed it as one of the common traits of Hufflepuffs to not be as outspoken as the Ravenclaws in class, and the Gryffindors or Slytherins outside of class. Actually, many peers always wondered why Abby herself had not been in Hufflepuff. She also never really spoke up due to her shyness, was incredibly loyal to her friends and was a disciplined and hard worker. Sometimes Abby was unsure of her affiliation with Gryffindor herself.

She wasn't as vibrant as Lily, as outgoing as Kyra, as careless as Marlene or as attention-seeking as Noelle.

But there were extremes, and Ethan was one of those extremes who never said _anything. _Then, he looked up. Abby could feel her cheeks burning immediately, but forced herself to at least give him a small wave.

She was rewarded with a smile, and she returned to her assignment feeling extremely proud.

While Abby was glowing with pride, Lily was glooming with regret. Thank god Potter did not take Arithmancy, she didn't want to be confronted with his coldness again just yet. She bit the end of her quill as she stared at the scribbles on her parchment, not really concentrating on them. She had to do something, the nagging feeling she had done something wrong was eating at her. She had a few classes with him today, so perhaps she could try talking to him, apologize…

Lily sighed. Apologize to Potter. How the tables have turned this year, she thought regrettably. Not that she was sure there was such a thing as having a sensible conversation with him, but it was worth trying. Anything to restore her conscious. She couldn't bear spending another day knowing someone walking the same hallways was infuriated with her, even if it was James _bloody _Potter.

There were more students distracted. Darcy Greengrass, the sixth year prefect from Slytherin, was gossiping with Narcissa Black. Zoey Jacobs sat behind them and was disinterestedly scribbling formulas on her parchment. Remus, who always sat next to her, was ill, and they usually would decipher these assignments together.

'… even if Sirius snogged _McHale_, he is still a blood traitor,' Zoey heard Narcissa Black say a row in front of her. She immediately stopped writing and strained her ears trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

'Do you believe it anyway?' Narcissa asked Darcy curiously, who shrugged her shoulders.

'Could be, he's kind of a slut anyway. I suppose he went to the finals over the Summer and chased her after Puddlemere won. And she went with it,' Darcy added disgustedly.

Professor Vector cleared her throat and silenced the Slytherins. Zoey stared at Narcissa's back. Sirius Black kissed Regina McHale?

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

**AFTER BREAKFAST, 8.20 AM (GREAT HALL)**

Lily and her friends were seated at the end of the Gryffindor table, as they waited for Marlene and Kyra to finish their toast with eggs. The two of them were always the ones stalling the group, under the impression that arriving in class right on the bell was equally fine as arriving five minutes before that.

'We got Defence third period, right?' Marlene spoke with her mouth full of egg. Abby pulled a face.

'What's that dude's name again?' Kyra swallowed her piece of toast as she glanced towards the Professors' table, but the new Professor had already left.

'Professor Mortimer,' Abby answered with a hint of excitement in her voice. Everyone was desperate for a more practice-oriented Professor rather than the endless lectures from the previous professor. She only remembered having to need her wand three or four times.

'I'm Morti-fied,' Lily amusedly awaited the reaction to her terrible joke, and anticipated the piece of bread Marlene threw at her. Lily protected herself with her Arithmancy book, chuckling at Marlene's reaction.

'Can't be worse than Professor Bedsnooze,' Kyra grinned painfully at the memories of the last disastrous Professor Ashwood.

'Professor No-Good,' Marlene supplemented from the long list of nicknames he received last year.

'Driftwood,' Lily finished with an original, receiving applause from Kyra, while Marlene mimicked drifting away into a deep slumber over her almost empty plate.

'Are we sitting together in Arithmancy again?' Abby then asked Lily softly as Marlene and Kyra continued eating, and Lily turned to her. 'Of course,' she replied, giving her desk buddy a gentle, reassuring nudge.

Just as she did so, she noticed from the corner of her eyes that the Marauders were about to walk past her. Lily glimpsed at them, specifically Potter, trying not to seem to obvious, but he did not even shot her a single look. Instead, he paced towards the exit, radiating so much glumness he may as well had a thundercloud hanging over him.

Lily swallowed as she felt a bubble of guilt expanding in her stomach. Had it become a luxury to always receive nothing less than amorous looks from him, to have always been on the good side of the most influential (and yes, she would deny this to anyone) student in Hogwarts? As much as she detested his overly affectionate disposition towards her and had prayed he would give it a rest, the silent treatment was bothering her enormously. If only there was a middle way, Lily thought. A world in which they could just coexist, no hatred, no flirtatious gestures. That would be perfect.

'Are you okay?' Abby scanned Lily's face, but Lily shook off her worries and nodded. 'Yes, let's go,' she faked a smile, and her friends followed her as she rose out of her seat.

'Who is Regina McHale?'

'She's the Seeker of Puddlemere United!'

'They won the Quidditch league, right?'

'That's so cool!'

A group of first years was gossiping just outside the Great Hall. The first bell rang and the crowd around them dispersed into different directions, but the first years lingered before the entrance to the dungeons, continuing to talk about the conversation they overheard during breakfast.

'You there!' A voice sounded from the staircase. It was Darcy Greengrass, the seventh-year prefect from Slytherin. 'Didn't you hear the bell? What's so interesting that you're skipping class?'

'W-we're sorry,' one of the first years trembled, 'we just heard a guy from Gryffindor snogged Regina McHale's _sister_ after the Quidditch final!'

'Which guy?' Darcy snorted disbelievingly.

'The tall guy with dark hair from the Marauders!' Another girl shouted who only yesterday became familiar with the four infamous troublemakers.

'The one with glasses?' Darcy asked, her interest piqued.

'He did not wear glasses,' the first year remembered and her friends muttered in agreement.

'What a bunch of nonsense,' Darcy rolled her eyes. 'Well? Get to class!' She ordered and the first years quickly scurried off into the dungeons.

* * *

**15 MINUTES BEFORE THAT**

**BREAKFAST, 8.05 AM (GREAT HALL)**

The first Friday of the semester seemed to be starting like any other day. The Great Hall was packed with the eight A.M. breakfast crowd who spoiled themselves with toasted bread, hard-boiled eggs and a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

But what happens at breakfast, never stays at breakfast. That morning proved to be fertile soil for the kickstart of the Hogwarts rumor mill, famous for its speed, infamous for its accuracy.

The premiere of the mill was launched at breakfast and was seeded within a conversation between the four Marauders.

'I'm already done with school. When is the next holiday?' James questioned uninterestedly as he stirred his coffee with his wand.

'Five days Prongs, we've been here for _five_ days,' Sirius snorted, but he did not seem too eager either. 'Think someone's got their period,' he said to Remus and Peter. James was not bothered to reply. Though he was energetic and cheerful during the day, he usually started his mornings with a temper.

Remus rolled his eyes. 'We finally have our first Defence class today,' he said in an attempt to cheer up his friends. They, however, were not impressed. Sirius turned in his seat to glance around the Hall.

'Camilla is single, right?' He asked, nodding towards the pretty girl at the Ravenclaw table. Peter chuckled.

'Five days Padfoot, and you already have to harass girls?' James groaned. Sirius only raised an eyebrow at him.

'It's been a slow summer, with the whole "situation" and all. I need to get my game on,' he grinned wickedly. 'Plus, I cannot have this wanker snog more girls than me,' he punched James in the arm, who in turn kicked him in the shin. James took off his glasses to rub the tiredness from his eyes and placed them on the table. A few feet away, a group of first-years took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

'I think we have to admit he did get the snog of the summer,' Remus acknowledged, looking at Sirius and James. Peter nodded heavily and looked at them in awe.

'C'mon, other than having a famous sister she was kind of a downer,' Sirius teased.

'Hey,' James returned the punch. 'She was pretty,' he defended, 'she had nice hair.'

'I would say the same if _I _had snogged another redhead as a consolation prize for being unable to conquer the one I prefer,' Sirius grinned and nodded towards Lily who was eating her breakfast a couple of seats away.

'Sod off,' Sirius received another, more aggressive punch from James.

'Did you ask her whether you could meet Regina McHale?' Peter asked curiously, he had been on a holiday with his parents when it happened.

'Nah, I mean she is McHale's _sister_ and she was watching the Quidditch final in a _pub_. Doesn't sound like they are that close,' James shrugged his shoulders.

They did not notice that the first years paused their own conversation to eavesdrop on theirs.

* * *

**PRESENT**

'So, did you?' Jim encouraged Black, and more people around them shifted the focus to them.

'Merlin, this school knows how to twist a rumor,' Black began. 'It was at a _pub, _it was the _sister_ of Regina McHale, and it was a _snog. _Besides, it was not even me who snogged her!' Black exclaimed, throwing his arms up in fake frustration.

'Wait, who did then?' Jim asked surprised.

'Prongs,' Sirius revealed and the crowd whistled and cheered as he did.

'Yeah, stop stealing my pride, you prick,' Potter descended from the boys' dormitory stairs. He lurched Black off of the chair by his shoulders and the two wrestled for a bit while the other Gryffindors cheered and shouted directions to their favorite Marauder.

Lily watched the scene and felt slightly dissatisfied with that final piece of the puzzle. She had expected things to turn back to normal after they talked things over. She had been bracing herself for him to taunt her with flirtations, serenades and Hogsmeade invitations as soon as they buried the short-lived hatchet and he crossed her path again. She had honestly been expecting it ever since she arrived at Hogwarts. And to her dismay, the relief of her cleared conscious dripped away. If Potter was snogging other girls - dating other girls? - would things then _really_ turn to normal?

Ironically, she had _prayed _over the past years that he would get a girlfriend and eventually bugger off, and yet here she was, feeling slightly unnerving that the rumors concerning Black were false. Maybe she just never expected Potter to ever like someone else, maybe she didn't think times would eventually change during their final years at Hogwarts. And maybe, most of all, she did not know how to be around him without the bickering and rejections, just like she was absolutely clueless about initiating a proper conversation with him this afternoon right before Black came to her rescue.

She shrugged off the feeling of being swept aside, somewhat annoyed with herself. This boy had occupied too much of her energy anyway, and now the signs were here that he finally loosened the reins with her. Now they could finally attempt normal interactions or none at all.

This was a good thing.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Albus Dumbledore, hiring incompetent teachers since 1975.
> 
> Kuddos for everyone who got through this massive chapter. I'm not sure (or am I?) if the next ones will be this long, but I really didn't want to split this one and disrupt the flow.
> 
> See you for 3! Love, Lovienne


	3. Lion

**Chapter 3 - Lion**

The Gryffindor common room, situated in the tower on the seventh floor, was the habitat of the courageous, the daring and the chivalrous. A true Gryffindor would go above and beyond to fight for justice. The Gryffindors were mostly proud of their ruby and gold colours, forthcoming of the greatest wizards of all time including the current headmaster, their symbol – a lion, and their mascot: Lion.

Lion was a slightly chubby, red and blonde-haired fluffy cat that belonged to Jim Murray, Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Jim Murray joined the team in his fourth year after the previous Keeper left Hogwarts, but Lion joined the team in Jim's first year. He had bought Lion at Diagon Alley as per regulations he was only allowed to buy a cat, owl or toad. Struggling with the name of the cat, he waited until arriving at Hogwarts to find inspiration. Perhaps there was a cool wizard, or a funny potion he could name his cat after.

That was until the previous Quidditch captain and Seeker, Alexander Parish, a sixth year, discovered the cat in the first weekend of Jim's first year at Hogwarts. Alexander had been sitting on one of the armchairs at the fireplace and the cat had jumped onto his lap. Alexander had asked the crowded common room whose cat it was, because he had never seen it before. A young Jim came forward, nervously, and claimed the cat as his own.

'What's his name?' Alexander had asked, stroking the cat who seemed uninterested in any human contact. He just sat there.

'H-he doesn't have a name yet…' Jim trembled.

Alexander's friends from the Quidditch team had joined in to look at the cat, after one said: 'He kind of looks like a lion, doesn't he?' By that time everyone in the common room had turned around to look at their star players and the new cat.

'We still need a mascot!' one of the Chasers proposed. 'He's certainly got the attitude for it,' he continued, as the cat remained indifferent to all the attention.

'How about that?' Alexander smiled at Jim, whose eyes were beaming.

'Let's vote,' said another Chaser. He stood up on the chair and called out: 'Dear fellow Gryffindors. We are proposing a new mascot for the Quidditch team. Those in favour, please raise your hand.'

Laughter followed and all hands shot up.

'It is decided then,' the Chaser said ceremoniously. He turned towards Jim. 'What do we call our symbol, oh master of the mascot?'

'Lion,' Jim declared proudly.

And that is how, still to this day, Lion was the most respected animal in the Gryffindor tower. Lion loved hanging around in the common room, being completely unconcerned about everyone around him, but secretly he enjoyed all the attention. Everyone greeted Lion as they passed him every day, and Jim continued to be the renowned owner.

Word had spread about the Gryffindor mascot. He was loathed by the Slytherins, unappreciated by the Ravenclaws, and copied by the Hufflepuffs, who were mocked endlessly by the Gryffindors because they unoriginally nominated a slimy toad called Puff to be their mascot.

It was tradition that the evening before a Quidditch match, the students of Gryffindor would come together in the common room for a pep-rally. The captain gave a speech and they ritually thanked Lion, may he bring courage and victory to them all.

Friday morning, the morning before the Quidditch match, all students who left for breakfast gave Lion a quick ruffle over his head before leaving the Gryffindor Tower. The Gryffindors were buzzing with excitement and thrill; the opening match of the season would be a classic showdown against their nemesis, Slytherin.

That little detail therefore meant both houses were particularly tense the days before, finding every opportunity to throw in a hex that may weaken the competition. And whenever that plan failed, they attempted emotional abuse towards the newer players in the team.

'Potter only gave you the position because you are a _girl_, lucky for us you also throw like a girl, I bet your shot wouldn't even reach the goalposts,' Mulciber sneered at Kyra as they were on their way to Potions.

'Don't listen to him,' Lily told her friend and she dragged her towards the Potions classroom. Lily needed to use some strength to refrain Kyra from lunging at Mulciber, and she noticed in the corner of her eye that Kyra's hand was grasped around her wand. Another group descended the stairs and Mulciber shifted to a new target.

'Oi Potter, speaking of throwing like a girl- _auch_, darn it!' Mulciber began, but he was brutally cut off as out of nowhere his own books viciously started attacking him, following him when he tried to dodge them without success. Potter casually strolled past him, putting his wand back in his pocket.

'Oops,' he shrugged his shoulders as he passed Kyra and Lily, shooting them a wink and disappearing into the classroom. Kyra chuckled at her teammate and they followed.

The Potions seating arrangement was safely divided into a Gryffindor and Slytherin section, with impartial Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws functioning as barrier in between. The entire class was busy working on their forgetting potions, brewed to enable its drinker to forget any event that happened in the last twenty-four hours. However, in the back of the class, the Marauders were only half-concentrated on their potions, fully aware they were receiving – more than usual – deadly stares from across the room.

'Can we _please _hex their smug faces?' Sirius pleaded, uninterestingly throwing more salamander scales into his potion which consequently turned the color to a mixture of dirty green and yellow.

James sniffled at the disgusting colour. 'I bet we can assassinate them with one drop of your potion,' he said to his best mate, but he was definitely open to the idea. The Slytherins had been taunting his team for days. So much even that their newest member, Rose Yarmouth, had a nervous breakdown at practice and suggested James could better find a last-minute Seeker. Malfoy had threatened to crash her straight into the stands if she'd catch the snitch before them.

'Worth a shot,' Sirius eyes twinkling devilishly, but Remus interjected that emerging idea.

'As tempting as that is,' he quietly concluded and Sirius shot him another grin, 'why don't we use what we have left of Zonko's Firecrackers? Didn't you carry some in your bag, Padfoot?'

Peter clapped enthusiastically as Sirius proudly slapped his friend on the shoulder. 'Look who's brooding mischief now, our loyal Prefect. And yes, I carry that with me at all times for any glorious occasion such as this one.'

Remus snorted and nonchalantly returned to his potion. 'You know perfectly well I'm all in for hexing those gits.'

Sirius turned to James, who as cued was already inspecting Slughorn's position within the classroom.

'We got to distract him, it takes approximately one minute to position and launch,' James calculated. His eyes traveled to the group of girls seated in front of them, which he had already noticed much earlier due to the beautiful, red hair he faced that every once in a while would send a whiff of a lovely scent his way. Roses? Or was it lavender?

James mentally kicked himself and refocused. Slughorn was heading their way, so now was the time to proceed to action. 'I'll distract him, you set up?' He ordered his friend, who shot him a confirmatory wink.

'My dear Evans, have you been practicing over Summer? Your potion is looking superb!' Slughorn balanced happily on the balls of his feet and clapped his hands as he marvelled over Lily's potion. The glistening emerald substance reflected in her similarly coloured eyes as she politely smiled at him, turning slightly pink in her cheeks. Kyra unsuccessfully tried to suppress her laughter and Marlene cleared her throat loudly.

'Professor,' a voice appeared as James stopped at their table, pausing his journey to the storage cabinet which he never intended to reach. 'Don't you think with her ambition and talent, Evans would have made a great Slytherin?' He asked with mocked wonder. Behind them, Sirius rummaged silently through his bag.

Lily shot him an appalled and furious look, but he ignored her and innocently smiled at Slughorn, who was almost skipping in his enthusiasm. Kyra and Marlene both quickly focused on their potions, pretending not to hear what James said.

'Oh my dear boy, I've been telling her for ages! She would have done _marvellously _in my house.' Meanwhile, Sirius had found the objects he was searching for, placing them in his hand as he nonverbally conjured them to levitate just over the ground towards the other end of the dungeon.

'Sir, I don't think –' Lily started, scratching her head apologetically but Slughorn's excitement was uncontainable.

'You would have made Slytherin house so proud, not that Gryffindor is inferior of course – not at all, but _still – _you would have done _brilliantly_, I promise you!' His narrow eyes twinkled with delight as he watched Lily expectantly.

Lily, however, tried to compose herself before she said cleverly: 'Green is not my color, sir.' The firecrackers strategically positioned around the Slytherin's cauldrons and Sirius mumbled 'incendio' to light the fuses.

Slughorn laughed loudly and clapped his hands together like a seal. Lily warningly eyed James in an 'I'll get you later' kind of way - her emerald eyes brilliantly shimmering in the glow of her potion, brightened by her contrasting red hair. James could only smile sheepishly at her while witnessing the sight, and Lily narrowed her eyes once more to emphasize her warning.

Sirius reclined comfortably in his chair, patiently waiting for the fireworks that could ignite any second now.

'Ha, always the same witty answer!' Slughorn exclaimed heartily at his favorite student. 'Well, I will never stop telling you miss Evans. If it was up to me as head of house, I would have-'

But they would never find out what Slughorn would have done. The unsupervised Slytherin section rapidly burst out into a cascade of fireworks; explosions filled the room in all colors of the rainbow and cauldrons launched into the air splashing their contents all over the dungeon floor including several unlucky Slytherins. The smoke of the fireworks and the dispersing substances lifted a fog over the classroom, but the panic was clearly audible.

Slughorn rushed through the haze to his other students, and James winked at his best mate who was calmly sitting with his feet up on his desk admiring the show. In his bag, one wrapping of Zonko's firecrackers was sticking out. Meanwhile, Lily suspiciously glanced from James to Sirius, sighing as she didn't need to be a genius to figure out who caused the havoc.

Fortunately the bell rang as soon as the fog was lifted. The Marauders hastily grabbed their bags and exited the dungeon, before Slughorn could figure out who had targeted the Slytherins. Once they reached the Entrance Hall, Sirius and Peter hurried into the Great Hall to hide amongst the handful of students who similarly were enjoying a free period. Remus left to go to Ancient Runes, so James was alone, rather clueless of what he should be doing.

Just when he decided he may as well tackle his ever-growing pile of homework in the library, someone caught up with him on the marble staircase.

'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Lily said, her breathing slightly shallow as she had to march fast in order to keep up with his large strides.

'I have no idea what you are talking about, but I am appalled at the insinuation nonetheless,' James naively said, placing his hand over his heart as if he was in deep pain, his stomach making a tiny cartwheel. He turned into the first floor corridor.

'Yeah right,' Lily snorted, following him, even though Runes was on the sixth floor.

'Don't you need to be on sixth?' James calmly asked, definitely enjoying Lily Evans chasing him onto a completely different floor.

'You were saying all that Slytherin nonsense to keep him occupied so you could blow up the entire dungeon,' Lily ignored his previous comment, now panting from the fast walking.

James scanned her, her eyebrows dangerously pursed as they approached the library, and he chose to also abandon the second accusation. 'Nonsense? Who says that's nonsense?'

Lily felt her face heating up. 'What, me in Slytherin? Are you kidding me?' Whatever James was going at, she wasn't going to be distracted from the fact that half of Slytherin was in the Hospital Wing with second-degree burns.

'Slughorn is head of Slytherin, right? And doesn't he always say you would do perfectly well in Slytherin? I mean, if _anyone_ would know…' James amusedly teased her. Of course she would not fit in Slytherin, he didn't know anyone less cunning or power-hungry than vivacious Lily Evans. Nonetheless, he liked it when Lily would bite, and she always did. So, he couldn't resist the temptation as it was the only way he knew would keep her attention.

'Well, yes,' Lily hated to admit, and James continued.

'You are quite ambitious, aren't you?'

'I guess, but that does not mean-'

'And you are pretty good at throwing the occasional insult into someone's way.'

'Well if they are absolute _arses _around me, then yes, I don't see why-'

'You're fairly able to wind professors around your finger as well.'

'Oh please,' Lily now frustratingly threw her hands in the air. 'First of all, those traits are not mutually exclusive to one house, and just because I did those things _once _does not mean I do it every single day. It most certainly does _not _make me a Slytherin!'

James spun on his heel and stopped right in front of her, causing Lily to come to an abrupt halt.

'You don't? Well, I must've read you wrong then,' he brought his hand to his jaw and stroked it as if he was considering something. 'In that case, perhaps if you go to Hogsmeade with me you can tell me all about why you are such a true Gryffindor,' he added with a wink and Lily groaned loudly.

'Merlin, you are insufferable!' She sneered at him and walked around him, turning the corner to make her way back to the staircase. But James was quick on his feet and caught up with her, turning once again so he was walking backward, observing her with a devious grin.

'Insufferably handsome I assume you mean?' He ruffled his hair, which incidentally made Lily want to pull out hers.

'No, just _insufferable_!' Lily yelled irritably wishing he would just bugger off. 'Barking mad, you are. You really think painting me as a Slytherin would get you anywhere? And for the millionth time, I do _not _want to go out with you, I'd rather date the whomping willow as its more peaceful company than you are!'

'Aw c'mon, just take a leap of faith, will you?' He pleaded, but Lily walked on steadily and avoided his puppy dog eyes.

'I'd rather take a leap off the Astronomy Tower.'

'I'm flattered you would kill yourself for me, but don't you think having a butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks would be a lot more hazard-free?' James was still walking backward and thoroughly examined her expression for any sign of weakness, any crack in her defense, any clue she was anything other than repelled by him.

'Can't you just give me a bloody rest?' She raged at him. ''Every godforsaken year I return to Hogwarts it is the same impossible routine with you, and just when I _finally_ thought-'

Stopping mid-sentence, Lily immediately cursed herself, but it was too late. James, who was well-accustomed to the standard Lily Evans tirades, abruptly stopped his tread as he analyzed the intriguing deviation of her phrasing.

'You thought what?' He insisted, but she once again started walking, more hurriedly this time.

'You thought _what?' _His voice now came from much closer, sprinting to catch up with her. She unwillingly looked up at his face and met the triumphant smile of James Potter, who was awfully pleased with her slip of the tongue.

'That you would leave me alone,' she lied, refusing to give him any more attention. But James again blocked her path, ordering her to stop.

'_Can you stop doing that_?' Lily hissed at him, but then James leaned over and his face was very close to hers. Lily swallowed.

'I'll find out,' he whispered confidently, and with that he returned into the direction of the library, humming victoriously. Lily exhaled when he disappeared from view. _Bloody Potter._

* * *

The newfound excitement for Defence Against the Dark Arts was short-lived. In the two classes that had followed the disastrous first one, matters had not improved. Instead, Mortimer had expanded his reign of terror by giving assessments clearly correlated with blood status, assigning impossible amounts of homework, and changing the seating chart so that many could not rely on the support of their friends anymore. Lily was assigned to sit next to Ethan Finley, a quiet Hufflepuff. Abby now seated next to Sirius Black, a person she felt highly intimidated by so rather than saying the wrong, stupid thing, she vowed to silence. Marlene sat next to James, which was quite uncomfortable at first considering Marlene had been loyal to Lily all those years, never allowing him a chance at redemption. Lastly, Kyra was positioned next to Nathaniel Brighton, an entitled and pompous Ravenclaw.

'Hey, Marlene,' James whispered to his new deskmate, carefully keeping an eye out on Mortimer at the other side of the room.

'What?' Marlene indifferently replied, staying focused on nonverbally making her book fly. She had no interest whatsoever in conversing with James. Ironically, in their first year at Hogwarts she had been quite keen on becoming his friend. They were both outspoken, rebellious and sarcastic royalties. Then, James started boasting his supremacy and made her completely lose interest. That and the fact that he had hexed a fair share of her friends – well okay, ex-boyfriends – in the past without any legit reason.

'You write songs, right?' James continued, completely oblivious to the cold tone in her voice. Marlene was slightly thrown off guard, she didn't expect him to start about her hobby.

She looked suspiciously at him, abandoning her attempts to levitate her book. 'Yes… why?'

'Well, you know the pep-rally the night before the match, right? I thought this year we could spice things up by having a song, y'know, to cheer on Gryffindor,' he proposed after checking again whether Mortimer was outside of earshot, seeming content with the idea he came up with. Marlene blinked at him.

'You want me to write a Gryffindor anthem?' She clarified, unsure whether she felt conflicted or flattered.

'Yep,' James confirmed as he twirled his wand between his fingers. 'I've heard you play before and it sounds pretty wicked, and I'd like to keep the tradition up of Gryffindors being the first to bring these ideas to the field. You know, before the other houses pathetically rip them off,' he added, referring to the pitiful attempt of Hufflepuff to nominate a mascot for their house.

Marlene laughed at the thought. The news of the Hufflepuff mascot had given her the best laugh in her six years at Hogwarts.

'I mean, I could give it a shot?' She slowly admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Yes, she definitely felt flattered.

'Great,' James gave her a big smile, appearing genuinely happy she agreed. 'I know it's last minute, but are you able to come up with something for tonight?'

'I could give it a shot,' Marlene casually said, because in reality she had written countless songs for her house already that had never seen the light of day. It was only a matter of picking the best one.

'You're awesome, McKinnon,' James smiled at her once more and nudged her fondly against the shoulder. 'Now, let's see if we can enchant those books to nonverbally hit Mortimer in the crotch.'

* * *

After dinner later that day, Kyra wandered the nearly empty corridors, once in a while passing a student returning late from supper. She knew she was expected in the common room within the next hour, but before the pre-Quidditch festivities commenced she enjoyed the peace and quiet of the abandoned hallways.

Her friends had gone up to the Gryffindor tower earlier, leaving Kyra at dinner after she convinced them she did not mind finishing her dinner by herself. She explained the same to Gideon Prewett and Dorian Oakley, Chaser and Beater in the Gryffindor team, who practically dragged her out of her seat to take her to the pep-rally.

Truthfully, she needed some air. The next few days she would constantly be surrounded by her hyperactive team members, and – well, mostly if they beat Slytherin – in the spotlight.

She witnessed the sun almost disappearing behind the mountains, filling the sky with a spectrum of orange and pink shades. She must be somewhere on the fourth floor now. She had entered a stretched corridor with windows as high as the ceilings that overlooked the lake.

The popularity never really interested her. If anything, the stress they nowadays put on looks, status and gossip made her uneasy. She had always been the athletic tomboy in the family, and once she joined the Quidditch team last year she felt like she finally completed her family within Hogwarts, including Lily, Abby and Marlene. Within her team there was no such thing as hierarchy. It didn't matter what your blood status was, or your family's income. As long as she brought spirit and a good sense of humor into the team, she belonged.

She particularly had no trouble at all befriending guys, and to Marlene's regret she had never dated nor showed interest in a single one of them. There was just something so inherently simple about being around guys. But not all guys were the same. The memory of her new desk partner in Defence sent a wave of embarrassment through her as if a balloon uncomfortably enlarged in her stomach.

Professor Mortimer had assigned her next to Nathaniel Brighton, a pompous lad from Ravenclaw. He naturally exuded an air of superiority which implicitly emphasized the gap between their completely difference worlds: he was an entitled pureblood from one of the oldest and wealthiest wizard families in England, and she, similarly, was a pureblood, but came from a lower-income family – her mother worked as salesclerk in Flourish & Blotts, and her father owned a kiosk just outside Gringotts where he sold newspapers such as _The_ _Daily Prophet_.

Sitting next to him for an entire hour had been torturous. She cursed her self-consciousness often, that a guy like Brighton who oozed snobbery could make her feel so little, whereas he probably didn't think twice about her. Because besides income, what did he have that she didn't? Not much.

Kyra surprised herself when her train of thoughts unconsciously led her all the way back to the Gryffindor tower. Right, she thought to herself, time to forget about pretentious rich kids, and focus on the ones you like.

She inhaled deeply, conjured up a smile, and entered through the portrait hole. She was immediately called over by Marlene – she, Lily and Abby occupied a single armchair at the fireplace. It was all they had managed to confiscate; the Gryffindor common room was packed with students ready for the pep-rally.

Maneuvering through the crowd, Kyra sat down next to Lily on the ground and they both leaned against Abby's legs while she comfortably lounged in the chair. Marlene crouched down on the low coffee table, concentratedly strumming on her guitar and mumbling words to herself.

'Not a chance Collins, you're coming with me,' a deep voice appeared from behind her and Dorian swung his arms around her middle, lifted her up so her legs kicked the air as she laughingly tried to escape. Marlene shot a conspicuous look at Lily, who giggled at Kyra's efforts.

'You are not getting away from me that easily,' Dorian stated. 'Bye, ladies,' he added courteously and he carried Kyra towards the team who were huddled up near the notice-board.

Marlene sighed exaggeratively. 'So many suitors, and yet she refuses to go out with _any _of them. How does she do it?'

'She is not as insatiable as you are,' Abby flatly replied over her book, and Lily whistled, amused. Abby wasn't always the quickest to throw in remarks like that, but when she did, she hit the nail on the head.

Marlene threw her guitar pick at her and Abby flinched as it bounced off her forehead and disappeared in the cracks of the chair.

'Actually, I need that back,' Marlene realized, she stood up and launched herself on Abby, who uncontrollably giggled as Marlene tickled her stomach while she searched for the pick. Lily shove a little further away to avoid being collateral damage due to Abby's legs kicking around.

Lily smirked at her two wrestling friends and caught James walking towards them from the corner of her eye. Her smile faded.

'Oi McKinnon, hate to break you two lovebirds up but we need you,' he ordered and Marlene slowly pushed herself from the chair, triumphantly holding up the guitar pick. She gave Abby a last teasing rub on her head.

'Coming, captain,' she affirmed and grabbed her guitar. Lily shot her a questioning look, but Marlene mouthed 'later', brushing off what would surely be an Anti-Potter lecture once Lily found out he had 'corrupted' her like he did with Kyra.

'Evans,' James curtly greeted Lily, a hint of his earlier confidence flickering in his eyes.

'Potter,' Lily stiffly replied, returning to the Runes book she'd been studying. Once they left to join the rest of the team, she curiously watched Marlene as the Quidditch players surrounded her, listening to something she explained whilst performing various strums on her guitar.

'Why didn't she tell us she's doing something for Potter?' Lily curiously asked, she figured Abby was observing their friend as well. She felt Abby shrug her shoulders.

'Well… I think she didn't want to tell you, cause… you know,' Abby carefully muttered, knowing all to well how Lily's usual kindness would disappear as soon as James Potter was brought up. She hated confronting her friends when they behaved poorly, she'd rather have Marlene or Kyra do that but since no one was around, she was the one who could hold up the mirror.

Lily moved around on the carpet, facing Abby and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 'Because of what?'

Abby fiddled the corner of the page she was reading. 'It is- I have just noticed, that you get quite tense when we talk about him. James, that is.' Lily listened but she was more concerned about her friend's evident nervousness, so she laid both her hands on Abby's.

'Hey,' she softly insisted, meeting Abby's eyes. 'You know you can tell me anything, right? Even if it's something I did wrong. I am your friend, I would never hate you for it.' Abby sighed, tension visibly releasing in her body.

'I know, it's stupid. I wished I was better at this,' she apologetically said, but Lily soothingly rubbed her hands.

'You'll get there,' she confidently stated, giving Abby a supportive smile. 'So I tense when anyone talks about Potter, ey?' She laughed painfully. Abby chuckled with her.

'Yes, you do,' she mimicked Lily's expression. 'You really don't want to give him a chance?' She carefully inquired, but Lily resolutely shook her head.

'I won't lie saying I haven't thought about it, but he seems to be exactly the same brat as he was last year,' she concluded, thinking back at their conversation today after Potions.

'Come on Lil,' Abby now held Lily's hands more firmly. 'Ever since Kyra joined the team, she's been going on about how he's not so bad after all. And now Marlene seems to have slightly warmed up to him too. He can't be that bad, can he?'

Lily considered that for a moment, but even to her own surprising reluctance she had to disagree with her friend. 'If he's like that with everyone else apart from me, then I still don't have any reason to give him a chance.'

Abby sighed, but nodded understandingly seeing the truth in that statement. She examined the group of Quidditch players and Marlene, now all seeming to inaudibly and excitingly sing something together.

'How about this,' Abby had an idea. 'Perhaps don't give _him_ a chance, but give Marlene's and Kyra's attitude towards him a chance. With that, I mean listen to the good stuff they have to say about him. And,' she shyly added, 'allow them to be friends with him, even if you can't bring yourself up to do the same.'

Lily gazed at her friend for a moment and then groaned.

'I'll try.' It was evident in regards to her some of her friends that their attitude towards Potter had changed over the past year. Abby had always been the forgiving kind, and Kyra lost all her hostility towards him the weeks after she joined the Quidditch team, rather functioning as an obstacle during Lily's abundant rants than a participator. Perhaps she'd been a bit easily flammable. Actually, scratch the 'perhaps'.

'You sit next to that Ethan guy, right?' Abby changed the subject and interrupted Lily's thoughts. She nodded.

'Yeah, not much of a talker though. I didn't even recognize him, has he always been in our classes?' She met a slightly pink-faced Abby, who once again fiddled with her book when she indifferently tried to brush off her next answer as a 'yeah, I never noticed him too.' But Lily knew her friend way too well.

'Abigail,' she nudged, 'I know that face. Where do you know him from?'

Abby stared into blank space for a second, then she pulled the pillow from behind her and buried her face into it. 'You are way too much like Kyra,' she muffled into the fabric, referring to their friend's talent of observing the tiniest of facial clues.

'Learned from the best,' Lily joked and she tried to yank away the pillow, but Abby didn't budge.

'I think someone has a little cruuush…' Lily danced on her knees, poking Abby in her legs so she would flinch. She received the pillow straight into her face.

'Oof, okay, I'll take it down a notch,' Lily removed the strands of hair from her face and she eyed Abby, waiting for her to spill the beans on this new yet old Hufflepuff.

'I only talked with him once, but he seemed nice, and… I was just wondering whether you'd talked to him. If you got a good feeling about him, y'know?' Abby added the last bit more hesitantly.

Just as Lily opened her mouth, James had jumped on a table, curving his hands around his mouth to amplify his request for attention.

'I'm on it,' Lily winked to Abby.

'Gryffindors!' James raised his voice to overrule the crowd. 'May I have your undivided attention please? As new captain of this year's Quidditch team, I'd like to-' James started but he was interruptedly drowned out by loud applause and whistles from his fellow Gryffindors (and catcalls from Sirius), who were psyched to see the handsome troublemaker and talented Chaser as new captain.

'Go Potter!' Various people yelled and James modestly ruffled through his hair, gesturing the crowd to stop. His eyes flashed to Lily from across the room and she rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth quirking up, and he noticed.

'Thank you, thanks,' he laughed heartily. 'Anyway, as per tradition, I'd like to say a few words. First, let's give a huge applause for the players who make all of our upcoming victories possible!' The crowd once again cheered stridently as James screamed the names and positions for dramatic effects.

'The Chasers, Kyra Collins, Gideon Prewett and Jim Murray! The Beaters, Dorian Oakley and Ruby Newton! The Keeper: Jim Murray! And last but definitely not least, our newest addition as Seeker: Rose Yarmouth!'

All the new players waved and a few bowed formally, as they received the standing ovation from their house.

'This year,' James quieted the crowd with his voice, 'we have a new addition to our pre-match ceremony. Because, this year, I have asked the magnificent Marlene McKinnon to help us write a Gryffindor theme song!' An excited buzz traveled through the common room.

'It is _really _easy and incredibly efficient, and I say we blow the Slytherins and their lousy attempts at cheers away with our new anthem!' The crowd went wild at the mention of Slytherin and then James jumped down from the table, nodded to his team, and they started singing loudly.

'_We are lions_

_Hear us roar_

_For the mighty Gryffindor_

_See the red and gold glow bright_

_We will always win the fight!_'

They sang it once and then repeated, and around the third reiteration the entire Gryffindor common room was forcefully singing along, putting arms around each other's shoulders and lifting their Gryffindor scarfs up in the air, swinging them in circles them like lasso's.

The team finished with three '_GO GO GRYFFINDOR_'s' before James climbed back on the table and motioned the crowd back to silence.

'And now,' he sternly announced, 'our biggest support, our furry knight in shiny armor, our fiery mascot-' as a true pep-rally, the students went absolutely ballistic when James heralded: 'THE ONE AND ONLY… LION!'

Jim and Dorian had sneaked off moments before that and ceremoniously entered through the crowd, between them raising a velvet cushion high on which sat Lion, the chubby, hairy, grumpy-looking ginger cat.

They made a lap through the crowd, during which various students tiptoed to stroke Lion and the rest chanted the new Gryffindor anthem.

'Oh mighty Lion,' James ritually exclaimed when the mascot reached him. 'We, House of Goderic Gryffindor, humbly kneel before you and wish for you to grant us victory, pride and dignity tomorrow.' The common room, as per tradition, went mute and cued Lion to, as per tradition, _meow_ once as a sign of his blessing. After he did, everyone burst out into an explosion of roars, chanting 'Go go Gryffindor' once more. Jim proudly petted Lion who ignorantly scanned the crazy teenagers partying around him.

And that was how Gryffindor ritually prepared themselves for the first Quidditch match of the year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, get ready for some Quidditch action! Love, Lovienne.


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